In the past few weeks I have been conducting research on the gamification of jihadist recruiting in Western Europe. "Fighting Jihad in Germany," "Muslims and Terrorism in the Netherlands," "Muslim Security Concerns in Europe" and a few other unflattering combinations of Islam and violence pre-populate my Google search bar as I began to type. A quick glance at my browsing history reflects the more troubling post-9/11 history of continental attitudes toward Islam. Perhaps moreso in Europe than America – given the terror and destruction inflicted by the Hamburg cell and London bombings – Islam has been increasingly conceptualized as a threat to national security.
Disrupting militant Islamic terrorist networks operating between Syria and Western Europe now ranks chief among the prerogatives of German, Dutch and French governments. Counter-terrorism efforts against Islamic terrorists command more attention from policy-makers than the human rights, education or economic issues ailing European Muslims. Yet this very "securitization" of Islam endangers Europe far more than any single terrorist. Blowing up the foiled bomb plots or violence of a few radical Islamists ultimately ends up alienating all of the Muslims who make up three to five percent of Western Europe's population. The nativist politicians and irresponsible media outlets give undue salience to said incidents, causing the Islamic as well as broader national citizenry to feel perpetually targeted and threatened. The mutual fear is not a symptom, but rather a cause of domestic unrest between Muslims and non-Muslims in Europe. And the result is a deeply fragmented and unstable society.
In November 2004, for instance, sensationalist reporters and nativist Dutch parliament members construed the murder of one citizen to be a part of a larger Islamic coup d'état to topple the secular state of Netherlands. An Islamic extremist murdered Theo Van Gogh, a prominent Dutch filmmaker who drew heavy criticism from Muslims. An anti-Islamic frenzy erupted during the next few days. The deputy prime minister, Gerrit Zalm, "declared war" on radical Islam and promised to eliminate all of its supporting "branches" and "roots." Meanwhile, a Dutch paper reported that a note left on his body called for a "holy war;" however, investigators later disclosed the text was made up of Quran quotes about retribution. On the same day another Dutch newspaper pleaded that "the government should take the fear of 70 percent of the Dutch population seriously. We are still dealing with a small group of extremists among Muslims but their potential influence is great."
But some of the most dangerous extremists aligned themselves with the interests of Dutch national security.
Populist politicians, tabloid journalists and far-right personalities exploited public concern over the tragedy and fostered a culture of fear. The perceived threat of terror cultivated a combustible domestic environment that fueled the real violence. Within days of the murder, multiple mosques were set ablaze in Amsterdam by misguided Dutch; Islamic centers were spray-painted and vandalized, and a bomb exploded in an Islamic primary school in Utrecht. Feeling endangered by these acts of terrorism, members of the Dutch and wider Islamic base warned they would strike back if the attacks persisted. And some Muslims indeed took action, heaving Molotov cocktails at Dutch Protestant churches in Utrecht. The situation nearly exploded as Netherlands Prime Minister Balkenende declared his country on the verge of "a civil war" in late November.
Islamaphobia continues to guide public discourse about Muslims living in the Netherlands and across Europe. Headlining major European newspapers are concerns about the burgeoning number of Syria-bound jihadists who may cause problems when they return home. It is, however, the writers reporting on jihadists who may cause the biggest problems following the homecoming. Broadcasting fear primes the nation to be hypersensitive and reactive to any Syrian-influenced terrorism.
Though this particular civil war did not come into fruition, the underlying issues of the conflict in the Netherlands were never resolved; the conditions for violence are still present. Hysteria does not constitute an acceptable reaction to religiously-biased incidents.
Moving forward, uprooting the mistrust and hatred of Islam embedded in European society should be set atop national security priorities. Only then can a safe and multicultural Europe be cobbled back together.
Ben Sollenberger is a College junior from Winston-Salem, N.C.
Illustration by Katrina Worsham
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